esocid writes: Despite having booked and paid for their booth at Gamex, Sweden'½Â(TM)s largest gaming exhibition, the Pirate Party have been excluded from the action this week. The party, who say they were nagged for 2 to 3 months to book for the event, were this week informed they were too controversial and no longer welcome. All the big names in interactive entertainment are there showing off their wares, including giants such as Activision, Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Nintendo. Pirate Party leader Anna Troberg says that after the sales people from the exhibition pursued the party for months to participate, they decided to book and pay for a booth. “I thought it was a bit strange, but in the afternoon, the pieces fell into place when the fair manager, Bear Wengse, phoned me and kindly, but firmly, announced that the Pirate Party was no longer welcome at the fair.”

Wengse informed Troberg that the exhibition is a meeting place and not a venue for political conflict and the party’s presence could cause problems, particularly since some of their work “could be perceived as criminal.” Despite the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League (SSU) being allowed to appear – even though they too support the decriminalization of non-commercial file sharing.